Six Brigadier and Major Generals were killed or mortally wounded during the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. Of the six fallen men, three were from the Union army and three were Confederates
Anderson was one of the 6

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Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson

George Burgwyn Anderson was born in Orange County, North Carolina, on April 21, 1831, the eldest son of William Anderson and Frances E. Burgwyn. He attended private school at the Caldwell Institute and worked with his father on the plantation. George Anderson attended the University of North Carolina in nearby Chapel Hill until receiving an appointment to the U. S. Military Academy in West Point, NY. He graduated in the class of 1852 and received a brevet Second Lieutenant Billet in the 2nd U. S. Dragoons. Training in Carlisle, PA, George then became a second lieutenant in the U. S. Cavalry. Upon his promotion, he was sent to California to do some surveying for the railroads and then reported to Texas. George B Anderson then served in various billets and saw action in the Utah War. In 1859, he was sent to Kentucky where he met and wed Miss Mildred Ewing.

George Anderson resigned his commission four days after his thirtieth birthday. The Governor of North Carolina accepted his services and appointed him Colonel in the 4th N. C. He led this unit in the Battle of Williamsburg May 5, 1862. He was then promoted to command a brigade in D. H. Hill’s Division and with it came a formal promotion to brigadier general on June 9th. Brigadier General Anderson ended up seeing action with this Division in the Seven Days Battle and the Battle of Malvern Hill where he was wounded seriously in the hand. He returned to duty in time to march north with the Army of Northern Virginia in the Maryland Campaign of 1862. General Anderson led his brigade in the Battle of South Mountain before coming down the Cumberland Valley to Sharpsburg, MD. The Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army collided at Sharpsburg, MD. In the Battle of Sharpsburg, Anderson and his Tar Heel Brigade saw heavy fighting in the sunken road known as the Bloody Lane. His boys fought gallantly and repelled several attacks from Union troops. General Anderson remained with his troops fighting in the Bloody Lane until being shot in the ankle. George B. Anderson was taken from the field and transported to Staunton, VA. He eventually ended up in Raleigh, NC where his foot became infected and required amputation. George Burgwyn Anderson died in Raleigh, NC on October 16, 1862, nearly a month after he was wounded. His death was due to complications from the infected leg being amputated. His remains are interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC.

The Sunken Road-Bloody Lane

The Sunken Road, as it was known to area residents prior to the Battle of Antietam, was a dirt farm lane which was used primarily by farmers to bypass Sharpsburg and been worn down over the years by rain and wagon traffic. On September 17, 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill placed his division of approximately 2,600 men along the road, piled fence rails on the embankment to further strengthen the position and waited for the advance of the Union army. As Federal troops moved to reinforce the fighting in the West Woods, Union Maj. Gen. William H. French and his 5,500 men veered south, towards Hill's position along the Sunken Road. As French's men approached the Sunken Road, the Confederate troops staggered them with a powerful volley delivered at a range of less than one hundred yards.

Union and Confederate troops dug in. For nearly four hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., bitter fighting raged along this road as French, supported by Gen. Israel B. Richardson`s division, sought to drive the Southerners back. Outnumbered but with a well-defended position, the Confederates in the road stood their ground for most of the morning. Finally, the Federals were able to overwhelm Hill's men, successfully driving them from this strong position and piercing the center of the Confederacy's line. However, the Federals did not follow up this success with additional attacks, and confusion and sheer exhaustion ended the fighting in this part of the battlefield. In three hours of combat, 5,500 soldiers were killed or wounded and neither side gained a decisive advantage. The Sunken Road was now Bloody Lane.

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Six Brigadier and Major Generals were killed or mortally wounded during the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. Of the six fallen men, three were from the Union army and three were Confederates
Anderson was one of the 6